(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a skirtboard paint guard, more particularly, to a paint guard which is suitable to protect stair carpeting when painting the skirtboard on a staircase.
A skirtboard, as is known in the building trades, is a trimboard which runs with the rake, pitch or incline of the stair against a wall on a closed side of a staircase. While usually nonstructural, a skirtboard protects the drywall or other wall surface and adds to the decor of the staircase. It is often desirable to paint the skirtboard of a staircase at the same time as, or in a corresponding color with, other trim pieces on and around the staircase (for example, baseboard molding, chair rail molding, or crown molding).
When paint is applied to the skirtboard, whether by brush or roller or other means, it is necessary to protect the staircase itself from dripping, splattering, or splashing of the paint. This is important because the staircase surface material usually comprises carpeting or finished hardwood. It is laborious and often difficult to remove paint drips and splatters from these materials.
Moreover, both the risers (the vertical boards) and the treads (the horizontal boards) of the staircase must be protected from the paint applied to the skirtboard.
(2) Description of Related Art
Although various paint guards for baseboards have been proposed in the prior art, such as the paint guard disclosed by Ivankovich in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,654, no paint guard designed specifically for the skirtboard of a staircase has been proposed.
Prior art devices for protecting the staircase surface when painting a skirtboard include the use of painter's tape and/or the use of a trowel (a flat piece of metal or plastic).
Painter's tape is labor intensive, as several strips must often be applied in order to obtain the necessary width of protective coverage. The tape must be applied to both the risers and the treads, adding more time and effort. When painter's tape is removed upon completion of the staircase painting job, it very often is messy and introduces paint drips onto the surface being protected.
Trowel usage requires the use of one of the painter's hands for placement, leaving only the remaining hand for all other tasks related to the painting. The trowel must continuously be moved from a horizontal to a vertical orientation because of the presence of both riser boards and tread boards. It must accordingly be continually cleaned or wiped free from paint as it is moved from one orientation to the other.